first bull ( video )

[pontificus]

[When first brought here, she would swear it all a dream. All that they said and all that they have her on the feast could only be a parting gift from the gods, Bacchus' treats, Ceres' grief of losing a daughter, Diana's farewell for losing a maiden soon enough. But she wakes in her bed, rises and dresses. There is no man that lies with her, there is no parting.

So here she stays alone, save for those she's had the good fortune of meeting. One certain knight she least hopes to see again, though the dream has broken and with it holds the reality, her reality.]

It seems we are in no dream, for I have pinched myself enough to believe it real. I am Lucrezia Borgia of Rome, a place I have found little have heard of. Nor even of my name who I once held with Pope Alexander VI before he was called to be the Shepherd of all men's souls. [She still cannot call herself Sforza. That taste is too bitter in her mouth.]

I address this-- locket [Yes, it is even strange to her, and she must back up a little to see better now.] as a means of addressing this war. I know little on the matter of strategy and battle. My brothers have been taught the skill of the sword, and yet here I am in their place.

A friend-- [For she would consider all those kind to her the night of the feast a friend.] --relayed the thought that perhaps those like I are here for morale, but truly this many ladies?

I shan't sit around. [Lucrezia may not be the Harold of charities she will become, but idleness here does her little.] I wish to make myself of use, though for what I am unsure.

I do truly hope to meet you all, and already call myself fortunate in those I have met. Good day.

Comments

video.

[steeledskin]

Your friend and I are of a mind, my lady.

[ soft. uncertain. she cares very little for these lockets and their enchantments, but she relishes the opportunity to speak to lucrezia once again. ]

video.

[pontificus]

Lady Stone. [Another friend, how good it is to see her again. She dips her head in greeting.

And of course Sansa would think the same as Lucrezia's friend since Gendry told her they were her own words. Only Lucrezia does not know Alayne as Sansa.]

It is not something I thought, but it seems the only possibility once he said so. [Though Alayne is the only one Lucrezia can think of who Gendry described. Dark of hair and sullen.]

Are you well?

video.

[steeledskin]

As well as can be expected, Lady Borgia. [ each courtesy and title is sewed neatly on to her sentences. it thrives in her language like punctuation. or like breathing. and it comes all the easier when speaking to someone who shows the same sensibilities.

but she feels guilty for lying. she has allies, here. and even her sister. perhaps she doesn't need to be alayne any longer. ] I trust you are, also? You've found your rooms; perhaps have yet walked the bailey?

[oursavinggrace]

I've heard of Rome, if that makes you feel any better.

["heard of" is kind of putting it lightly. "nearly died there two or three times just a few weeks ago" is a bit more accurate.

by the way you talk, though, he gets a feeling she probably wasn't around at the time.]

What year was it before you were brought here?

Borgia timelines :|

[pontificus]

Have you? [The delight shines on her face, gladdened that she is not the only one from Earth that she has met.]

It is the year 1498 Anno Domini. And for you? [Since he thinks it so strange enough to ask. Though if others can be from strange worlds entirely, different times cannot be too hard to imagine.]

/wild guessing about pjo timelines

[oursavinggrace]

[aaaaaand that would be where the list of things in common ends.]

Uh, 2011. [he winces as he says it. the idea's a bit stunning to him, but he can't imagine being the one more than 500 years behind.]

[happilyevermore]

My lady Borgia.

[Guess who is french, catholic and from just from a few years down the line? This girl. Her surprise shows on her face.]

Forgive me, you seem...younger than I would have imagined.

[pontificus]

[Lucrezia cannot help but scrutinize the girl in the locker as she looked on. She does not mean to be rude, but the girl talks as if she knows her or at least of her.]

You must forgive me for you know me, but I fear I do not know you. [It is even stranger since she talks of her age.] I am six and ten. Should I be something else?

[happilyevermore]

I am Danielle De Barbarac, but I would not imagine you would have heard of me, my lady. My name is not one to be known beyond my own manor. The daughter of our departed Pope, however, is one difficult to not have heard...[er. rumors about.] spoken of.

[And because Ever After exists in a magical flux of actual history, no specific years are given. But...]

Your holy father departed this world some years before my birth. Forgive my surprise, I would have expected you at least beyond my eighteen years.

Video

[mildly]

I have wondered these same things, Lady Borgia. But I've found that in war there are always the wounded and the orphaned and the hungry. Perhaps it is our duty to ease their suffering however we can.

Video

[pontificus]

It seems the Christian thing to do. [So what better way than bringing the Pope's daughter here?]

video;

[parallels]

There are plenty of things to do beyond fighting and... morale.

[Clearly that's not something she's too concerned with. Though she supposes for someone out of time and space, this whole situation must be even weirder than it is for the rest.]

Strategy, looking after the wounded. Definitely things a lady can do.

video;

[pontificus]

I do not know the arts of war like my brother, [After all Machiavelli will write a widely known book on Cesare. The term Machiavellian should really be Borgian.] but I will do what I can in other manners.

( video )

[tsarcasm]

People haven't heard of Rome? Have they been living under a rock or something?

( video )

[pontificus]

As I have met many lords, ladies, and other noblemen, it seems many come from other kingdoms, ones not known to Earth much like this Caer Glaem is.

Video

[unclebob]

Women can be taught to kill just as effectively as men.

[He's had enough firsthand experience watching Sarah Connor to know not to underestimate the so-called "fairer sex."]

Video

[pontificus]

Of that I know. Caterina Sforza is not called the Tigress of Forlì for no reason. Women can be condottieri, too.

[But she was raised ever the proper lady with brothers to protect her and a father who could scheme for her.]

[chiot]

Madame!

[ ooh ooh ooh oh oh oh! Listen, listen listen! The locket is recording but Gavroche still outstretches his hand wide and waves it, desperately afraid her attention is going to go elsewhere. ]

Madame! 'Ey, 'ey! I know it!

I know Rome.

[pontificus]

[Of course she cannot take his eyes off him. She has a little brother, too. Though the little one is French and she is wary of the French, he seems so proud to know her home.]

I am glad I am not the only one who does. And if I were to guess, I would say you are French?

video;

[jaywalks]

[ blonde hair is such a new concept to mako, it's definitely part of the reason he decided to respond; it's an easy marker for people from definitely different places than him, and part of him is truly curious. ]

There's always resource management and stuff; there's plenty of decent fighers who suck at the supplies end of things. But I guess most of the suggestions like that've already been said.

[ but plenty of other people have suggested alternatives and argued her talk about war skills, but he's interested in talking about thinking it's a dream. ]

Or you can just sit it out until you know for sure if this is legit, wouldn't fault you for that.

[ that's what he plans to do, at least. ]

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[pontificus]

I wonder what one can do for supplies when all is granted to us. [If they wish for it, they may have it it seems. Most of the court seems eager to have their new subjects.]

I thought I could try that, but it still leaves me idle.

video.

[torc]

( Guinevere knows Rome. She knows it as the driving seat of force behind the suffering of her people - she knows it as power unjustly wielded; as action without compassion. The Emperor and his Pope sent swathes of swords to ravage her home, each one intended to drive back her people and claim the land of the Britons for the Empire. )

I have heard tales of Rome.

( She lifts her chin, dark eyes bright with the burn of rebellion. )

The poisonous heart Empire so vast it crushes all it does not swallow, built on the blood of the men and women who died fighting for their freedom. The blood of my people.

( Her voice is clear and cool. After all, it was a Roman aristocrat who held her hostage; who tortured her and caged her for her beliefs in the name of an absent God. A humourless chuckle follows. )

If only life were so simple that such wrongs could be made right with a mere pinch.

video.

[pontificus]

[She is near stunned into silence by this woman's bold, harsh words of a city she loves so much. But she speaks of an Empire, of a time when Rome had an emperor. Rome is still much the same, similar in fact, to how Guinevere speaks of it, but as an Empire it holds no strength. It has clawed out Europe, and Europe had clawed back. As a power however, it is the stronghold for the Vatican, and a Pope holds more power than a king. The Church has become the Empire now.]

Rome has held no emperor for centuries. Italy is broken and divided amongst families, though all men are led by the Pope if they wish their souls to not be damned. [The Papacy holds a strong army, something her brother wishes he had more control of. He is a fighter, not a cleric.]

I must apologize if my fair city has done wrongly by you, but it is no empire and holds no true force as once it did. [Though in the name of God, Rome declares its wars still. It is ever a force to be reckoned with if Rodrigo Borgia has any say.]

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[courtly]

Sheperd of all men's souls? I trust you don't mean this in the literal sense, my lady.

video

[pontificus]

I do, my Lord. [Let me tell you about my religion:]

My father would see that every man would be at Heaven's gates if he could. It is his Christian duty, but even more so as the head of the Church.